McLaren deliver clear team order stance in Oscar Piastri-Lando Norris title fight

McLaren chief Zak Brown insists the team's approach has not changed regarding team orders after Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris's fierce Austria battle.

At the Red Bull Ring, Piastri tried in vain to get, and stay, ahead of Norris, the race after Norris collided with his team-mate in Canada, eliminating himself whilst Piastri finished fourth. 

The two nearly collided again after Piastri locked up heavily at Turn 4, but both survived as Norris took a dominant win to bounce back from his Montreal nightmare.

McLaren has been clear that its so-called Papaya Rules do not allow contact between the two, something hard to manage when the drivers' title fight is exclusively all-McLaren, something Mercedes encountered with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg between 2014 and 2016.

At the halfway point of the season, Piastri leads by just eight points at the top of the standings, but Brown is firm that there will not be a change in team order directives.

"No. It's the same rules," Brown told media, including RacingNews365, if Austria's close battle would change anything about the team's approach to team orders.

"[They can] race each other hard, race each other clean, and try and get as many points on the board for the team. 

"Then it's up to them to decide who is in front of whom."

Brown also briefly touched upon McLaren's upgrade plan for the remainder of the season, with a new floor being trialled at Silverstone, which team principal Andrea Stella indicated would be on the car for the Belgian GP. 

CEO Brown added that the focus was now on the huge rule changes for 2026, although the team still had "some bits" yet to be put on the car.

"Everyone's pretty much wrapping up their 2025 cars," he said.

"We still have some bits that we've developed that haven't been produced yet or put on the car, but pretty much 2026 is the focus, but we do have a few more updates."